Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Nate McMillan Returns For Second Run With USA Basketball Men’s National Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 21, 2009) – They’re back! The 2006-08 USA Basketball Men’s National Team coaching staff of head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University), and assistants Jim Boeheim (Syracuse University), Mike D’Antoni (New York Knicks) and Nate McMillan (Portland Trail Blazers), a staff that led the American men to gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a three year record of 36-1, will return intact to lead the USA Basketball Men’s National Team program in 2010-2012.

USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo officially announced today that Basketball Hall of Fame mentor Krzyzewski will return as head coach of the USA Basketball Men's National Team program for 2010-2012, and that Boeheim, D’Antoni and McMillan were returning as USA assistant coaches. The coaching selections were approved by USA Basketball’s Board of Directors and are pending final approval by the USOC Board of Directors.

“I’m honored to come back and be a part of our nation’s basketball team for a second time,” said McMillan. “Mr. Colangelo and Coach K have put together a great coaching staff, and I know those guys are just as hungry as I am to grow the U.S. program and work towards winning the World Championship and another gold medal. Working with USA Basketball has been a terrific experience for me.”

Over the course of 2010-2012, USA Men’s National Teams will compete in the 2010 FIBA World Championship (Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in Turkey); if necessary the 2011 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD); and if the USA qualifies, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games (July 26-Aug. 12 in London, England).

“When you have a good thing going you don’t mess with it. We accomplished a great deal last quadrennium and we want to keep the ball rolling in the right direction,” said Colangelo, who served as the Managing Director of the 2005-2008 USA Basketball Men’s National Team program.

“Mike and the staff did an incredible job last quad and he is more than entitled to have another run at it. I’ve said it over and over, he was the right guy at the right time and that is still true.”

“It was a huge honor to be selected as the USA National Team coach the first time. It is still a huge honor. The experience of being the head coach of the USA National Team for three summers was the best experience I've ever had in coaching” said Krzyzewski. “The upcoming three years will be a new experience and hopefully, it will be as rewarding. I am really looking forward to representing our country at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey and at hopefully the 2012 Olympics in London. Also, the chance to work with Jerry Colangelo a second time is such a unique opportunity and one that I am looking forward to taking full advantage of.

“It is amazing that Jim, Mike and Nate would do this again. For the past three years, we’ve handled the staff as if we’re all co-coaches. That is how we’ll handle it again. We’ve all taken ownership, we’ve loved being together and most of all, we’ve loved representing our country. What a great statement for continuity that our coaching staff will remain in place until 2012.”

USA Basketball announced on June 25 that 25 top rising NBA players had accepted invitations from to participate in the 2009 USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp that will be conducted July 22-25 in Las Vegas, Nev. USA Basketball also previously announced that the coaching staff for the mini-camp would be Toronto Raptors head coach Jay Triano, Utah Jazz assistant coach Tyrone Corbin, Detroit Pistons assistant Dave Cowens, former New Orleans Hornets assistant Kenny Gattison, and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Jerry Sichting.

The July USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp will feature practice sessions on July 23 and July 24 at Valley High School, and the mini-camp will be capped by the USA Basketball Showcase, a Blue-White intra-squad game, on Saturday, July 25, 8 p.m. (PDT) at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2009 USA Basketball Showcase, with seats priced at $10 to $75. Tickets can be purchased through www.UNLVtickets.com or 702-739-FANS.

USA Basketball initiated its historic men’s national team program in 2005 and capped the 2005-2008 quad competitions with a magnificent gold medal run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

USA Basketball's National Team program during the three-year period between 2006 and 2008 compiled a striking 36-1 overall win-loss record and just as importantly reestablished the USA team and its members as positive ambassadors for the United States and the sport.

The USA squad culminated the quadrennium by finishing 8-0 to reclaim the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the USA’s first gold in a major international competition since 2000. The USA National Team also won gold at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship with a 10-0 record to qualify the U.S. men for the 2008 Olympic Games. In the program’s first year, the U.S. captured the bronze medal with an 8-1 record at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.

Since first fielding a USA Basketball team of legendary NBA stars in 1992, USA Basketball senior national teams comprised of NBA players have claimed gold medals in 10 of 13 major international basketball competitions, while compiling an impressive 100-7 overall record (.935 winning percentage) in those international competitions and a record of 33-1 (.971 winning percentage) in exhibition games.

Mike Krzyzewski

Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001, Krzyzewski has a remarkable record of achievement at Duke while also boasting of extensive and successful international experience.

Krzyzewski guided Duke to a 30-7 record, the program’s 10th 30-win sea¬son, and the ACC Championship in 2008-09. The Blue Devils also made their 14th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, earning the second seed in the East Region and reaching the Sweet Sixteen for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. Duke has received a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in 11 of the last 13 seasons. The Blue Devils also reached the top spot in the AP poll on Jan. 26, marking the 14th different season under Coach K that Duke has been ranked No. 1.

Selected the National Collegiate Coach of the Year 12 times, Coach K has averaged more than 25 wins a season during his 29-year (1980-81 through 2008-09) career at Duke and posted 10 seasons of 30 or more wins, including 30 or more victories in seven of the last 12 years. Krzyzewski’s 10 30-win seasons are the most by any coach in college basketball history.

Krzyzewski owns an 833-274 career record and a remarkable 75.2 winning percentage in his 34 years of collegiate coaching. In 29 seasons at the Durham campus, he has logged a spectacular record of 760-215 for a striking 77.9 winning percentage.

Under Krzyzewski, Duke has captured three national championships (1991, 1992, and 2001). He has directed teams to 10 Final Fours, the third highest total in NCAA history. Since 1985, Krzyzewski has directed teams to NCAA Tournaments in 25 of the last 26 seasons, including 14 consecutive. His 71 NCAA Tournament victories rank first in NCAA wins and he ranks first in games with at 93.

Duke teams under Krzyzewski have claimed 13 ACC regular season titles and 11 ACC Tournament championships; compiled 760 total victories and 296 ACC wins. He has had teams ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams for 429 weeks, including 367 weeks ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams and 93 weeks ranked number one in the country.

His players have earned National Player of the Year honors nine times, claimed National Defensive Players of the Year honors nine times, and been named All-American 35 times. Forty of his players have been NBA Draft selections, including 21 first rounders and 15 NBA Lottery picks.

Krzyzewski attended the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and while there lettered three years in basketball (1967, 1968 and 1969) and was captain of Army’s 1969 NIT fourth place finishing team. He directed service teams for three years and followed that up as head coach of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School in Belvoir, Va., for two years.

In 1974 he resigned from the Army having attained the rank of Captain. When Krzyzewski was just 26, Bob Knight, his former coach at Army, hired him as a graduate assistant at Indiana University. That 1975 IU squad posted an 18-0 Big Ten Conference mark and an overall 31-1 record.

Accepting the head coaching position at his alma mater following his season at IU, Krzyzewski spent five years (1975-76 through 1979-80) building the West Point program and led the Cadets to one NIT berth, one ECAC playoff appearance and a five-year record of 73-59.

Krzyzewski also boasts of a long resume of USA international basketball coaching experience. A member of 12 USA coaching staffs, in the 11 international competitions Krzyzewski has been involved in, those USA teams have compiled a 90-7 overall mark for an 92.8 winning percentage, while capturing seven gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals.

Krzyzewski was named on Sept. 26, 2005, head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team program for 2006-2008. Over the course of the three summers, he led the USA national team to a 36-1 overall record. Under Krzyzewski, the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team recaptured Olympic gold, compiling a record of 8-0 in the process, while defeating opponents by an average of 27.8 points a game. Prior to the Olympics, Coach K guided the USA Basketball National Team to a 5-0 record in its tour. He also directed the Americans to a 10-0 record and gold medal finish in the FIBA Americas Championship, which also served as the zone qualifying event for the 2008 Olympics. In 2006, the U.S. finished the FIBA World Championship in Japan with an 8-1 record and the bronze medal. Krzyzewski has been honored by USA Basketball at the National Coach of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Nate McMillan

In completing his ninth season overall as a NBA head coach and his fourth as the head man for Portland, McMillan has now compiled a 360-363 regular season win-loss record, while advancing teams to the NBA playoffs three times, where he has compiled an 10-12 mark.

McMillan was named head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers on July 7, 2005, after serving as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics for five seasons and compiling a record of 212-183 and a 53.7 winning percentage.

McMillan, 44, led the second youngest team in the NBA to the playoffs with a 54-28 record last season, which ranks as the sixth best mark in franchise history. McMillan’s squad recorded a 13 game improvement on the Trail Blazers’ 2007-08 season and an amazing 33 game improvement over his inaugural 2005-06 campaign. He became just the second coach in NBA history to improve a team by at least nine or more wins in three consecutive seasons.

McMillan stands as the third-youngest coach ever in NBA history to reach the 300 win mark. McMillan gained his 300th win as a head coach on March 15, 2008, becoming just the 50th coach in NBA history to do so. Currently ranked 11th among active head coaches for wins, no coach recorded more wins than McMillan in eight years of coaching experience or less.

He has been named the NBA’s Western Conference Coach of the Month twice, April 2009 and December 2007. McMillan won the April ’09 award after leading the Trail Blazers to a 7-1 mark which included victories over the Lakers, Nuggets and Spurs. He was named the recipient in December 2007 after leading the team to a 13-game winning streak and a 13-2 month. The streak was the second best in the NBA that season and the second longest in Trail Blazers history. The team’s winning percentage in December was the franchise’s third highest, all-time.

Having spent his entire 12-year playing career with Seattle, McMillan was named the Sonics interim head coach on Nov. 27, 2000, after serving as assistant coach to Paul Westphal for the previous two seasons.

McMillan retired from his NBA playing days after the 1997-98 season and left as Seattle's all-time leader in assists (4893) and steals (1544). He now ranks second in both categories and ranks in the Sonics all-time top-10 in eight other statistical columns.

Jim Boeheim

“One of the best basketball experiences I have ever had was working with the Olympic team and that coaching staff. To be able to have that experience again is an unbelievable thrill. Usually you only get one of those kinds of experiences, and to be able to go through and have it a second time, is unbelievable. To be able to work with the coaching staff and the best players in the world is a tremendous thrill,” commented Boeheim.

Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2005, Boeheim in his 33 years (1976-77 through 2008-09) as Syracuse’s head mentor has posted only winning records, winning 20 or more games in 31 of his 33 seasons. Over the course of his 33 seasons, his teams have averaged 24.2 wins a season and just 8.7 losses. His 31 20 win or better seasons rank him first for the most ever.

Syracuse has earned postseason berths (26 NCAA and six NIT) in all but one of Boeheim's seasons. He has pushed the Orange to three NCAA Championship games (1987, 1996 and 2003) and Syracuse won the national crown in 2003. Boeheim has 42 NCAA Tournament triumphs to his credit, good for an eighth-place tie on the all-time Division I list.

Boeheim completed the 2008-09 campaign with a career record of 799-288 for a shining 73.5 win percentage. Boeheim ranks 10th among active Division I coaches in winning percentage and third in wins, trailing only Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Calhoun. He is 26th on the all-time Division I winning percentage ledger and eighth overall in victories. Only Dean Smith (North Carolina), Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) and Jim Phelan (Mt. St. Mary’s) have won more games at one Division I school.

Boeheim is also the winningest coach in Big East Conference history with a striking 356-200 (.640) overall record (regular season and tournaments). Under Boeheim, Syracuse has captured outright or shared in eight Big East Conference regular season championships. Owning a remarkable 45-25 record and 64.3 winning percentage in Big East Tournament play, his squads have won five Big East Tournaments and finished runner-up on nine other occasions.

He led Syracuse in 2008-09 to a 28-10 mark, an 11-7 record and sixth place finish in the Big East Conference regular season, a runner-up finish in the Big East Tournament, and to the 2009 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen.

Mike D’Antoni

“I consider it an honor to represent our country by returning to the staff of USA Basketball. Our players' and staff's commitment to this great program was so evident during the Beijing Games that we want to continue the excellence on and off the basketball court,” stated D’Antoni.

After five seasons (2003-04 to 2007-08) as the head mentor of the Phoenix Suns, D'Antoni was named the 24th head coach in the New York Knicks' 62-year history on May 13, 2008. Continuing his goal to right the ship in the Big Apple, he finished his first season of rebuilding with a nine game improvement on the prior season.

In his five NBA seasons with the Suns, D'Antoni compiled a remarkable 253-136 win-loss record and a 65.0 winning percentage. In his last four seasons the Suns won 55, 61, 54 and 62 games and had an overall record of 232-96 for a stellar 70.7 winning percentage. He also guided the Suns to the NBA Playoffs four times, advancing to the NBA Western Conference Finals twice.

Named the winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2004-05 season. D'Antoni also served as head coach of the Denver Nuggets in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season (14-36), and was the club's director of player personnel in 1997-98. He was also an assistant for Portland in 2000-01 and a scout for San Antonio during the 1999- 2000 campaign.

D'Antoni also coached eight seasons in the Italian League and compiled a 288-101 regular season win-loss record for a 74.0 winning percentage. He also compiled a 37-23 record (.617 winning percentage) in the Italian League Playoffs.In his eight years (1990-91 through 1996-97, 2001-02) as a head coach in the Italian League, he served as a head coach for four seasons (1990-91 through 1993-94) with Milan Olympia and four seasons (1994-95 through 1996-97, 2001-02) with Treviso Benetton. He led teams to two Italian League regular season championships (1991 and 1997), his teams made the playoffs in each of his eight seasons and he won two Playoffs (1997 and 2001). He was twice named the league's Coach of the Year.

His Benetton team captured the Cup of Europe and Cup of Italy in 1994-95 and won the Italian League title in 1996-97 after a 22-4 regular season. D'Antoni guided Philips Milan to the 1993 Korac Cup and to the Italian League regular season crown in 1990-91.